If Not For The Picture
by LJG-NCIS
Summary: What happened after Conspiracy Theory. KIBBS. One shot.


If Not For The Picture

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or anything to do with it. That all belongs to DPB, CBS, and Paramount.

A/N: Post Conspiracy Theory

Chapter 1- The Picture

Gibbs looked at the first picture that appeared on his computer screen. It made him smile. _Very nice_, he thought. The Kate he knew would never take part in a wet t-shirt contest. But didn't he always say expect the unexpected? Well, this was definately unexpected. Not that he was complaining. Then the next picture popped up on the screen. This one made him laugh out loud. For a few minutes Gibbs sat back in his chair and wondered why two of his agents would send such embarassing pictures of themseves to him. Then it hit him. He slapped himslef in the head for not realizing it immediately. He closely examined the picture of Tony in spurs sitting next to a cowboy. He could just barely tell where the tint of the skin didn't match on the neck. Someone must have erased the original head and digitally pasted Tony's face on. It was a good job, and he knew that only McGee or Abby could do it so well. McGee, wouldn't want to do it, he practically feared Tony. That left Abby. It all made sense. When Tony went to Panama City for Speing Break a few weeks earlier, he must have seen the picture of kate and saved it on his cell phone. Kate then brought up the subject of Tony's pledge name, so he used the picture to blackmail her.

Kate went to Abby for help, and she made the picture of Cowboy Tony. Gibbs couldn't wait 'til those to came to work the next morning. The way they shot out of there once they realized that not Gibbs computer had received two emails instead of just the one that they each sent, man, Gibbs would have himselff a good laugh tomorrow. He went back to the picture of Kate and stared at it until he decided to go home, work on his boat, and maybe catch forty winks.

Chapter 2- In The Bullpen

The next morning when Kate woke up, she remembered what had happened the night before, and immediatley felt distressed. _God, what will Gibbs think of me?_ She thought. She had spent almost a year and a half trying to get on Gibbs' good side. She thought she had finally warmed up to him, but then damn Tony had to sned that stupid picture to Gibbs. Kate had trouble looking into theose icy blue eyes already. How could she face him now? Kate knew that if she had to look into his eyes, she would embarass herself farther by telling him how she felt. Those eyes made you want to tell the truth, whether you wanted to or not.

Later That Morning

Kate walked into the NCIS building earlire than usual that morning. She wanted to get there abd talk to Gibbs before Tony came in. He would just screw everything up with his joking and teasing.

Gibbs looked uo as he heard the elevator doors slide open. _Hmm, Kate's here early this morning_, he thought. Kate walked in with her head held high. She was weraing a red shirt (a v-neck that went very low), and a pair of tight black pants, but not so tight that she couldn't do what her job required. Gibbs noticed that she avoided his gaze as she walked to her desk. She set herself up at her desk and busied herself with paperwork.

Gibbs worked on his own paperwork left from their last case. After 20 minutes, Kate finally spoke.

"Gibbs, about the picture-"

"Don't worry about it Kate. I'm not going to hold it against you like Dinozzo did. Let's try to forget it ever happened." But how could forget it ever happened when it was saved on his hard drive and he loked at it whenever he could?

Kate tried to think of a smart response but could think of none. Instead she just ended up saying, "But, how did you know?"

"I'm a Marine Kate, I know things. Don't worry about it. And that's an order!"

"Yes Gibbs."

"It was damn hot anyway." Gibbs muttered to himslef. Although he didn't know it, Kate heard him, and her heart soared higher than the clouds, her mind went all fuzzy, and her mouth became very dry. Could it be that he shared the same feelings for her that she felt for him? Kate tried not to get her hopes up, it would never work out hermind argued. But her heart was ovepowering her mind on this one. the barriers that kept her emotions from floodong out broke like a dam, and a raging river of emotions flooded out and overwhelmed her. She went to the bathroom and composed herself. When she returned to the bullpen, Tony was already there, so she couldn't talk to Gibbs.

Eight hours later, after a long day of travelling to a small town near Chesapeake Bay where a dead Marine was found, helping Abby analyze evidence, and watching as Gibbs interrogated numerous suspects, Kate was more than ready to go home. On top of that, on the trip to Chesapeake Bay, Kate had to endure long hours of sitting in the passenger seat as Tony drove, sang, and in Kate's opinion, made as much noise as humanly possible. Kate had done her best to avoid Gibbs as much as she could. It was too awkward to be around him. So as Kate prepared to leave, she was exhausted and eager to go home and curl up on the couch. As soon as Gibbs said they could go, Tony let out a yeall (that received a glare from Gibbs) and rushed into the elevator. According to Abby, McGee had the flu, so Kae and Gibbs were left alone, Kate gathering her things and Gibbs staring intently at the computer screen.

Before she left, Kate said, "Listen Gibbs, I-"

"I know you heard what I said. The way you acted, I could tell. And I'm sorry Kate, I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable. And I don't want you to feel awkward around me either. What I said, it puts you in a position that you shouldn't be in. And since you obviously don't feel the same." His voice tapered off, leaving him looking down at his desk.

"God Gibbs, how coud you say that! I've had feelings for you ever since I first joined NCIS. you were just so...Intriguing. Powerful. Intimidating. And if you feel the same way for me that I feel about you, then I'm glad. But what about Rule #12?"

"Rule #12 was really meant for Dinozzo. But I don't want to put our friendship and our work relationship in danger. I couldn't live with myself if that happened."

"Neither could I Gibbs, butI can't just abandon my feelings for you just like that." She said as she snapped her fingers.

She lifted her eyes up and met his gaze. Brown eyes met, icy, steely, blue ones. They both knew what had to be done. Both knew they couldn't hide their feelings, and it was worth the risk to try to make this relationship work.

"Kate, how would you like to see my boat?"

Kate thought back to the blonde lady, Karen, who Gibbs had taken to his house. Kate knew that he had had feelings for her, even if they were only physical, and was deeply disappointed when the results came back positive, sealing her fate in Leavenworth. Kate had been insanely jealous, and angry, for she knew Karen hadn't really liked Gibbs. She also knew that Karen didn't find the smell of sawdust as sexy as Kate did. For Kate, even as her mind continued its battle with her heart, there was only one possible answer.

"I'd love too."

Chapter 3- Gibbs' House

"Great. Follow me in your car."

Kate and Gibbs entered the elevator, and left the NCIS buildin together. They each got into their own cars, and Kate followed Gibbs out of the dark NCIS parking lot.

A short while later they pulled into the driveway of a one story house (not including the basement). There was a light bulb hanging from the porch, so Kate could tell that the house was painted white, with trim the same shade of blue as Gibbs' eyes. Kate stepped out of her car, and stood next to Gibbs as he took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

As Kate stepped into the dark house, the first thing that struck her was the smell. It wasn't a bad smell, it smelled like Gibbs. Like salty sweat mixed with sawdust. Gibbs flipped the light switch on the wall, then strode into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

"So, what do you think?"

Kate took in her surroundings. The kitchen was large but very empty. There was a tiny table with one chair set up. Kate noticed that there was another floding chair gathering dust in the corner of the room. The kitchen lead into the living room, which had a leather La-Z-Boy chair and a couch that matched the houses trim. Kate also observed that there was no TV, only a small radio on a coffee table. There was a door partially ajar that Kate assumed lead to the basement, and two more doors she guessed lead to the bathroom and Gibbs bedroom.

"I like it. It's...you."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Definitely good."

Gibbs left then to change out of his work clothes, then came out of his bedroom and threw Kate an old shirt. She went into the bathroom to change. The shirt smelled like Gibbs, and she hoped that Gibbs would forget to ask for it back, so she could wear it at night. The bathroom was just like Kate thought it would be: plain, nothing fancy.

There was a regular sink, and a regular old porcelin toilet, and a shower in the corner of one room.When she came out, Gibbs was waiting for her.

"C'mon, it's time for you to see the basement." Kate followed Gibbs down the steps into room lit by a single bare bulb. There, taking up almost the whole room, sat the most amazing boat Kate had ever seen. Granted, it was only half done, but it was still magnificent. It was almost as high as the ceiling, and many times wider than the door in the corner that lead outside. Kate ran her hand against the wood. It felt like silk, as smooth as glass underneath her skin. Gibbs picked up a sanding tool and showed Kate how to use it. After she got the gist of it, he wrapped his arms around her and helped her slide the tool across the wood, which was already as smooth as possible.

"Now I understand why you don't use powertools."

They continued to sand the wood, moving in perfect unision. While they were sanding, Kate asked, "How are you going to get the boat out of here?" Gibbs relied, "It's not abiut the destination Kate, it's about the journey there."

That made Kate think long and hard. _This man is amazing_, she thought, _acting like such a bastard all the time, when he is really so complex._

After a while Kate's arms grew tired, so she sat on the steps and watched Gibbs as he continued to work on his boat. _This_, Kate decided to herself, _is heaven on earth._ Then they heard a ding coming from upstairs, and Gibbs said, "Coffee's done."

They both walked upstairs, and Gibbs poured to cups of coffee, one blackk and the other with cream and sugar. Gibbs pulled the folding chair out of the corner, dusted it off, and set it up across the table from the other chair. As they sipped their coffee, they gazed at eachother fomr across the table.

Five minutes later they found themselves seated next to eachother on the blue couch in the living room. Gibbs had his arm draped around Kate's shoulder. They sat there quietly, enjoying eachother's company. Their eyes met, and Kate brought her hand up to Gibbs chin, feeling the rough stubble there. Their lips met for the first time, a gentle, tender kiss. They reamined sitting next to eachother on the couch, thiinking. They didn't know that they were thanking the same thing.

_I gotta thank Tony. None of this would ever have happened if not for the picture._


End file.
